Ok, this may be the most indulgent part of my web
page, but there is really an outside chance people are interested in
what I'm reading. I have these books linked to Amazon.com. I have mixed feelings about
them. I generally don't buy from them because I feel they are helping
to kill the independent booksellers. On the other hand, I do use them
for reviews when I'm considering buying a book, and I've written a few
reviews myself. By the way I used to list these with the newest
books on the bottom; I've reversed that now.
This Just In: I'm sure I'm not alone in this but I
make all sorts of references from classic books I haven't read. I keep
thinking I need to read them, and I've started a list at the bottom of
this page. I don't have them linked to Amazon as I imagine they are
books everyone knows about.
On Deck Circle
A Column of Fire by Ken Follett
The Death of Expertise: The Campaign Against Established Knowledge and Why It Matters by Tom Nichols
Current Reads
Unforgettable: A Son, A Mother, and the Lessons of a Lifetime by Scott Simon
Recent Reads:
2017
Before the Fall by Noah Hawley
Night of Camp David by Fletcher Knebel (I read this in the 1970s but it just seems to make sense these days)
This Was a Man by Jeffrey Archer
Cometh the Hour by Jeffrey Archer
Mightier Than the Sword by Jeffrey Archer
Be Careful What You Wish For by Jeffrey Archer
Best Kept Secret by Jeffrey Archer
The Sins of the Father by Jeffrey Archer
Only Time Will Tell by Jeffery Archer
An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became a Big Business and How You Can Take It Back by Elisabeth Rosenthal
The First Love Story: Adam, Eve, and Us by Bruce Feiler
The Flame Bearer by Bernard Cornwell
The Constitution Today by Akhil Reed Amar
2016
Here I Am by Jonathan Safran Foer
Trump Revealed: An American Journey of Ambition, Ego, Money, and Power by Michael Kranish and Marc Fisher
A Grace Disguised by Gerald Sittser
Underground Airlines by Ben Winters
Warriors of the Storm by Bernard Cornwell
The Empty Throne by Bernard Cornwell
A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of a Tragedy by Sue Kleebolt
The Big Bang Theory and Philosophy: Rock, Paper, Scissors, Aristotle, Locke by Dean Kowalski and William Irwin
The Martian by Andy Weir
The Last of the President's Men by Bob Woodward
The Big
Short: Inside the Doomesday Machine by Michael Lewis. This is a re-read from 2010; I'm giving it another look in anticipation of seeing the movie.
The Man In the High Castle by Phillip Dick
2015
Roads to Santiago by Cees Nooteboom
Religion in the Oval Office: The Religious Lives of American Presidents by Gary Scott Smith
Molina: The Story of the Father Who Raised an Unlikely Baseball Dynasty by Benji Molina
The Wright Brothers by David McCullough
Finale: A Novel of the Reagan Years by Thomas Mallon
Billion Dollar Spy by David Hoffman
Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee (I'm not proud of this)
A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler
Those Angry Days: Roosevelt, Lindbergh, and America's Fight Over World War II, 1939-1941 by Lynne Olson
Bad Faith by Dr. Paul Offit
The Siege Winter by Samantha Norman
The Set Up Man by T.T. Monday
The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution by Walter Isaacson
My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor
Visions, Trips, and Crowded Rooms: Who and What You See Before You Die by David Kessler
2014
Edge of Eternity: Book Three in the Century Trilogy By Ken Follett
Our Declaration: A Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Defense of Equality by Danielle Allen
Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil by Tom Mueller
Bronze Summer: The Northland Trilogy
by Stephen Baxter
The Joy of the Gospel by Pope Francis
A King's Ransom by Sharon Kay Penman
To Repair the World: Paul Farmer Speaks to the Next Generation by Paul Farmer
Real Leaders Don't Do Powerpoint by Christopher Witt
and Dale Fetherling
The Pagan Lord by Bernard Cornwell
Icon by Frederick Forsyth
Worlds of Arthur by Guy Halsall
The Bully Pulpit:Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft,
and the Golden Age of Journalism by Doris Kearns Goodwin
A Cruel and Shocking Act: The
Secret History of the Kennedy Assassination by Philip
Shenon
Double Down: Game Change 2012 by Mark Halperin and John
Heilemann
A Man
in Full by Tom Wolfe
2013
Wilson by A. Scott Berg
The Last Gun by Tom Diaz
Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin,
and the Race of a Lifetime by John Heilemann and Mark
Halperin
Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza
Aslan
Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us by Michael
Moss
Dearie: The Remarkable
Life of Julia Child by Bob Spitz
Man Seeks God: My
Flirtations with the Divine by Eric Weiner
Paris: The Novel by Edward Rutherfurd
After Rome: A Novel of
Celtic Britain by Morgan Llywelyn
Foundation: The History of England from its
Earliest Beginnings to the Tudors by Peter Ackroyd
The Face of the Earth by Deborah Raney
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Shadow On the Crown by Patricia
Bracewell
The Testament of Mary by Colm
Toibin
Alex and Me: How a Scientist and a Parrot Discovered a Hidden
World of Animal Intelligence - and Formed a Deep Bond in the
Process by Irene M. Pepperberg
Winter of the World by Ken
Follett
Master of the Mountain: Thomas Jefferson and
His Slaves by Henry Wiencek
America Again: Re-becoming the Greatness We
Never Weren't by Stephen Colbert
King Alfred of England
by Joseph Abbott
2012
Heart of Darkness by
Joseph Conrad
Trust Me,
I'm Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator by Ryan
Holliday
The Book of Abraham by Marek Halter The Long Road to Antietam: How the Civil War
Became a Revolution by Richard Slotkin
Calico Joe by
John Grisham
Simply Benjamin by Enid Lanyon
Supreme Court decision on the
Affordable Care Act (this is the Supreme Court decision on the
Affordable Care Act. Yes, I'm really reading it)
Damn
Yankees edited by Rob Fleder
The Vicar of Christ by Walter Murphy (I first read
this when it was published in 1979. It was better then).
The Beginner's
Goodbye by Anne Tyler
Lots of
Candles, Plenty of Cake by Anna Quindlen
Soldier
Dogs by Maria Goodavage
The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta
Shadow
of the King: Book Three of the Pendragon's Banner Trilogy by
Helen Hollick
Pendragon's Banner: Book Two of the Pendragon's Banner Trilogy
by Helen Hollick
Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots by
Deborah Feldman
We're
With Nobody: Two Insiders Reveal the Dark Side of American
Politics by Alan Huffman and Michael Rejebian
The
Jefferson Bible: The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth Extracted
Textually from the Gospels in Greek, Latin, French, & English
by Thomas Jefferson (Smithsonian Edition)
Revelations: Visions, Prophecy, & Politics in the Book of
Revelation by Elaine Pagels
Death of Kings by
Bernard Cornwell
The Submission by
Amy Waldman
The
Kingmaking: Book One of the Pendragon's Banner Trilogy by Helen
Hollick
Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the
Legend by Susan Orlean
A Wild Sheep Chase by
Haruki Murakami Lionheart
by Sharon Kay Penman
2011
Those Guys Have All
the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN by James Andrew Miller and
Tom Shales The Neighbors Are
Watching by Debra Ginsberg
In the
Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's
Berlin by Erik Larson
A
Stillness at Appomattox by Bruce Catton Ireland by Frank
Delany Stone
Arabia by Dana Spiotta Baseball in the
Garden of Eden: The Secret History of the Early Game by John
Thorn
Winged Obsession: The Pursuit of the World's Most Notorious Butterfly
Smuggler by Jessica Speart 1421: The Year
China Discovered America by Gavin Menzies The
Year 1000: What Life Was Like At the Turn of the First
Millenium by Robert Lacey and Danny Danziger
Deadly Choices: How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Threatents Us All
by Paul Offit, M.D. Mayflower: A
Story of Courage, Community, and War by Nathaniel
Philbrick Khan: Empire of
Silver: A Novel of the Khan Empire by Conn Iggulden John
Climacus: The Ladder of Divine Ascent translated by Colm
Luibheid and Norman Russell Forever Blue: The True Story of Walter O'Malley, Baseball's Most
Controversial Owner, and the Dodgers of Brooklyn and Los
Angeles by Michael D'Antonio A Kingdom
Strange: The Brief and Tragic History of the Lost Colony of
Roanoke by James Horn Tattoos
on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion by Fr. Gregory
Boyle SJ
Last
Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition by Daniel Okrent
Medium Raw: A
Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook
by Anthony Bourdain Attila: The Judgement by William
Napier
2010
The
Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery by Eric
Foner
The Last Hero: A Life
of Henry Aaron by Howard Bryant
Attila: The Gathering of the
Storm by William Napier Fall of
Giants by Ken Follett
Attila by
William Napier
Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise
by Ruth Reichl
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet by
David Mitchell
Noah's
Compass by Anne Tyler
The Big
Short: Inside the Doomesday Machine by Michael Lewis
Denialism: How Irrational Thinking Hinders Scientific Progress,
Harms the Planet, and Threatens Our Lives by Michael
Specter
New
York by Edward Rutherford Our Lady of the
Forest by David Guterson
The Burning
Land by Bernard Cornwell The Season of
Second Chances by Diane Meier
Conquering Fear: Living Boldly in an Uncertain World by Harold
Kushner A
Pilgrim in a Pilgrim Church: Memoirs of a Catholic Archbishop
by Rebert Weekland, OSB The
God Box: Hope Strength Courage @ Your Fingertips by Lynn Neu
Gwenhwyfar by Mercedes Lackey
2009
Atlas
Shrugged by Ayn Rand Drink,
Play, F@#k: One Man's Search for Anything Across Ireland, Las Vegas, and
Thailand by Andrew Gottlieb The Case for
God by Karen Armstrong
Freedomland by Richard Price Genghis
: Bones of the Hills by Conn Iggulden As They See Em: A
Fan's Travels in the Land of Umpires by Bruce Weber The
Visibles by Sara Shepard One
Nation Under Dog: Adventures in the New World of Prozac-Popping Puppies,
Dog-Park Politics, and Organic Pet Food by Michael
Schaffer Almost
Home by Pam Jenoff Those
Terrible Middle Ages: Debunking the Myths by Régine
Pernoud John
of the Cross by Kieran Kavanaugh, OCD Rabbit, Run
By John Updike I'm
Perfect, You're Doomed: Tales from a Jehovah's Witness
Upbringing by Kyria Abrahams Almost
Home by Pam Jenoff A Lion
Called Christian by Anthony Bourke and John Rendall The Yankee
Years by Joe Torre and Tom Verducci The Given
Day by Dennis Lehane Autism'
s False Prophets by Paul A. Offit, M.D. The Little
Book by Selden Edwards The
Crowd Sounds Happy by Nicholas Dawidoff Devil's
Brood by Sharon Kay Penman 2008
Aelre of Rievaulx by John R. Sommerfeldt
The Rhino With Glue-On Shoes edited by Lucy H. Spelman DVM and
Ted Y. Mashima DVM
Genghis: Lords of the Bow by Conn Iggulden
Mortally Wounded by Michael Kearney Rome
1960: The Olympics That Changed the World by David
Maraniss Opening
Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season by Jonathon
Eig A Hidden Wholeness: Toward an Undivided
Life by Parker Palmer Kauai:
The Separate Kingdom by Edward Joesting Too Soon To
Say Goodbye by Art Buchwald The
Happiest Days of Our Lives by Wil Wheaton Old Men Dream by Peter
Fullerton Still Life
With Crows by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
Beyond the White House: Waging Peace, Fighting Disease, Building
Hope by Jimmy Carter Uncle Tom's
Cabin by Harriett Beacher Stowe God in the
White House: How Faith Shaped the Presidency from John F. Kennedy to
George W. Bush by Randall Balmer Teresa of Avila: The Interior Castle
translated by Kieran Kavanaugh, OCD 90
Minutes in Heaven: An Inspiring Story of Life Beyond Death by
Don Piper and Cecil Murphy
Sword Song by Bernard Cornwell Emporer: Time's
Tapestry Book One by Stephen Baxter
People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks Harold the King
by Helen Hollick 2007
Naked in Baghdad: The Iraq War and the Aftermath as Seen by
NPR's Correspondent Anne Garrels by Anne Garrels and Vint
Lawrence
I Live For This: Baseball's Last True Believer by Tommy
Lasorda and Bill Plaschke
Man's Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl
World Without
End by Ken Follett
A Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Quest to
follow the Bible as Literally as Possible by A.J. Jacobs
No Time For Goodbye by Linwood Barclay A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled
Hosseini
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer Lords of the North by Bernard Cornwell New Seeds of Contemplation by Thomas
Merton The Audacity of Hope by Barack
Obama Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by
JK Rowling
Is This a Great Game or What? by Tim Kurkjian Genghis: Birth Of An Empire by Conn
Iggulden The Wrong Stuff: The Extraordinary Saga of
Randy "Duke" Cunningham, The Most Corrupt Congressman Ever
Caught by Marcus Stern, Jerry Kammer, Dean Calbreth, and George
E. Condon, Jr. The Rosetti Letter by Christi
Phillips
Marley and Me by John Grogan Einstein: His Life and Universe by
Walter Isaacson Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes
Behind the Veil by Deborah Rodriquez The God of Animals by Aryn Kyle About My Sisters by Debra Ginsberg
The
Death and Life of Bobby Z by Don Winslow My Seven Years in Captivity: Tails and
Misadventures in the San Diego Zoo by Bill Seaton The
Rebels of Ireland by Edward Rutherfurd Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid by Jimmy
Carter Waiting: The True Confessions of a
Waitress by Debra Ginsberg The Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson
A History of the End of the World by
Jonathon Kirsch Flu by Gina Kolata The
Archer's Tale by Bernard Cornwell 2006
Sons of Fortune by Jeffrey Archer Selected Writings in Anglo-Saxon
Spirituality by Robert Boenig Heat by
Bill Buford Digging to
America by Ann Tyler The
Great Transformation by Karen Armstrong Paris
1919 by Margaret MacMillan Absolute
Convictions by Eyan Press A
Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin Round Ireland
With a Fridge by Tony Hawks Scarred by Struggle, Transformed
by Hope by Joan Chichester The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
A
Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by
Doris Kearns Goodwin
2005 and before
A History of God: The 4000 Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity, and
Islam by Karen Armstrong Teacher
Man by Frank McCourt Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment
Kitchen by Julie Powell The Life of Pi by Yann Martel Our Endangered
Values by Jimmy Carter Never Have Your Dog Stuffed: And Other Things I've Learned
by Alan Alda War Powers: How the Imperial Presidency Hijacked the
Constitution by Peter Irons The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Ann
Fadiman Ithaka by Adele Geras Through
the Narrow Gate by Karen Armstrong The Patriots Club by Christopher Reich Heloise and Abelard: A
New Biography by James Burge The Old Ball Game: How John McGraw, Christy Mathewson, and
the New York Giants Created Modern Baseball by Frank DeFord
(note: this is autographed; I met Frank at the Los Angeles
Times Book Festival in April 2005). Marshall's Journey by Vailia Dennis
Dear Senator
by Essie Mae Washington-Williams and William Stadiem The Source by
James Michener. (note: this was a re-read; I read it for the first time
around 1992 or so). Mountains Beyond
Mountans by Tracy Kidder The Last
Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell Encore Provence: New Adventures in the South of
France by Peter Mayle Just a Geek by
Wil Wheaton The Last Season: A Team In
Search Of Its Soul by Phil Jackson and Michael Arkush
A Good Year by Peter Mayle Stonehenge by Bernard Cornwell Ball Four by Jim Bouton Eats, Shoots, and
Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynn
Truss Letter From Home by Carolyn Hart Skipping
Christmas by John Grisham A Short History of
Nearly Everthing by Bill Bryson Hanging Curve by Troy Soos The Curious Incident of
the Dog in the Night-Time by Michael Haddon Fat Man Fed Up by Jack Germond The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien
Bleachers by John Grisham How Few Remain by Harry Turtledove Good Grief by Lolly
Winston The Princes of
Ireland by Edward Rutherfurd The Amature Marriage
by Anne Tyler The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton Brinkley's Beat:People, Places, and Events That Shaped My
Life by David Brinkley Krakatoa by Simon Winchester Dragon's Lair by Sharon Kay Penman Lies and the Lying Liars Who
Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right by Al
Franken The Five People You Meet In
Heaven by Mitch Albom The Pleasure of My
Company by Steve Martin Jester by James Patterson The DaVinci Code by Dan
Brown Moneyball by Michael
Lewis Beyond Belief by
Elaine Pagels Patrick by Stephen R. Lawhead The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning Harry Potter and the Order of
the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling Why is the Foul Pole Fair? by Vince Staten The Words We Live By: Your Annotated Guide to the
Constitution by Linda Monk Merlin by Stephen R. Lawhead The Accidental Pope by Ray Flynn and Robin More Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly
by Anthony Bourdain The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson
Hotel Kid: A Times Square Childhood by Stephen Lewis
Summerland by Michael Chabon Hawaii by James
Michener Founding
Brothers by Joseph Ellis A
Grace Disguised by Gerald L. Sittser Constantine's Sword: The
Church and the Jews: A History by James Carroll John Adams by David McCullough The Last Report on the
Miracles at Little No Horse: a Novel by Louise Erdrich.
Sarah: Woman of Genesis by Orson Scott Card. WITSEC: Inside the Federal Witness Protection Program by
Pete Earley and Gerald Shur. Time and Chance by Sharon Kay Penman Fast Food
Nation by Eric Schlosser Nickled and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara
Ehrenreich.
Classics I feel I should read:
- The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
- Moby Dick by Herman Melville (I tried to read this in
college and gave up after about 100 pages)
- Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
- The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
- East of Eden by John Steinbeck
- Cannery Row by John Steinbeck